Narrative or discourse skills relate to one's ability or faculty of thinking logically and speech and writing competency is directly related to the proficiency of the discourse skills of such person. Individuals who have difficulty in organizing their thoughts are usually unable to express their thoughts or ideas logically, coherently and persuasively. It has been found that as an individual's discourse skills improve, that person will be better able to speak and write in a convincing and forceful manner.
Children and handicapped persons who may be lacking the necessary discourse skills, tend to write or narrate shorter, less complete and less well organized stories without the aid of others prompting them by asking leading questions to draw out important aspects of the story. When such persons hear or read a story, there is frequently a tendency for them to confuse the trivial with the important aspects of the story and to draw inappropriate inferences and conclusions.